Wire-cutting attachment for army-rifles.



H-. A. PAINE & E. M. PRIPPS.

WIRE CUTTING ATTACHMENT FOR ARMY RIFLES.

APPLICATION FILED SEPT. 2. 1915.

1, 183,029. Patented May 16, 1916.

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HENRY A. PAINE AND EDWARD 'M. PBIPPS, OF GARY, INDIANA.

Specification of Letters Patent.

Patented May 16, 1916.

Application filed September 2, 1915. Serial No. 48,734.

T 0 all whom it may concern:

Be it known that we, HENRY A. PAINE and EDWARD M. PRIrPs, citizens ofthe United States, residing at Gary, in the county of Lake and State ofIndiana, have invented certain new and useful Improvements inWire-Cutting Attachments for Army-Rifles; and we do declare thefollowing to be a full, clear, and exact description of the invention,such as will enable others skilled in the art to which it appertains tomake and use the same.

Our invention relates broadly to improvements in wire cutters and moreparticularly to those designed for application to army rifles wherebyentanglements of wire particularly barbed wire, may be easily cut andremoved.

The object of the invention is to provide a device of this class whichalthough being of extremely simple and inexpensive construction, will behighly efficient and durable and will possess a number of advantageouscharacteristics.

With this general object in view, the invention resides in certain novelfeatures of construction to be hereinafter fully described and claimed,the descriptive matter being supplemented by the accompanying drawingwherein:

Figure 1 is a side elevation of a portion of an army rifle showing theapplication of the invention thereto; Figs. 2 and 3 are verticaltransverse sections as seen on the planes indicated by the lines 2-2 and33 of Fig. 1 respectively, and Fig. 4 is a perspective view of thestationary cutting blade.

In this drawing which constitutes a part of the application, similarreference characters designate corresponding parts throughout theseveral views, the numeral 1 having reference to an approximatelyL-shaped cutting blade whose horizontal arm 2 1s beveled to a cuttingedge 3 on its upper side, while extending laterally from the upright arm4 of the blade in a direction opposite to that in which the arm 2extends, is a finger 5 designed for attachment to the barrel of a gun ina manner yet to be set forth, the finger being preferably formed with apair of openings 6.

Pivoted at one end to the blade 1 is a horizontal lever 7 having theportion of its body immediately adjacent its pivoted end beveled to forma cutting edge 8 spaced above the edge 3, while the opposite end of saidlever is curved downwardly at 9 and is then continued again horizontallyas disclosed at 10, terminating in an eye 11 in whlch a ring 12 ismounted for the reception of the usual shoulder strap 18.

As clearly shown in Fig. 1, the down wardly extending portion 9 'of thelever 7 is provided with a curved cam nose 14 which projectslongitudinally therefrom and which is designed for coaction with akeeper yet to be described which is carried by the rifle. By this meansthe lever 7 may be normally held in horizontal position, but may be released at will and may then be moved downwardly to move the edge 8toward the cutting edge of the blade 1.

In applying the invention to use, a bolt, screw or the like 15 is passedthrough the usual ears 16 which depend from the collar 17 at the frontend of the rifle 18, and in addition to this attaching means, a clip 19preferably surrounds the fire arm in rear of the collar 17, whereby anadditional bolt 20 may be passed through the other opening 6 and throughparallel cars 21 depending from said clip. The lever 7 now lies in closeproximity to the rounded lower edge of the rifle barrel and is held insuch position by a keeper 22 in the form of a pivoted U-shaped loopcarried by the usual clip 83, and receiving therein the cam nose 14. Theunder side of this nose is curved on an are extending spirally inrespect to the pivot of the keeper 22, whereby as said keeper is forcedin one direction, the amount of friction between it and the nose 1 1 maybe increased, thereby maintaining an effective connection.

When the invention is applied to a rifle in the manner above set forth,it is of great utility for cutting barbed wire or in fact any style ofwire such as those used in constructing entanglements for militarypurposes. Obviously, in order to position the wire to be out between thetwo edges 8 and 3, it is simply necessary to hold the gun with the lever7 resting on said wire, to then pull the fire arm rearwardly, andfinally to force downwardly on the aforesaid lever.

From the foregoing description, taken in connection withthe accompanyingdrawing, it will be obvious that although the inven tion is simple andinexpensive, it will be efiicient, reliable, and durable. Furthermore,the weight of the gun is increased only a slight amount and the articleis not at all cumbersome.

We claim;

1. A wire cutter comprising a rigid blade having its upper sidesharpened to a cutting edge a horizontal attaching finger formedintegrally with one end of the blade and ofiset upwardly therefrom, ahorizontal lever fulcrumed at one end to the blade and extending in adirection opposite to that in which the finger projects, said leverhaving a cutting edge spaced above that of the aforesaid blade, andmeans for normally preventing downward movement of the lever.

2. A wire cutter having means whereby it may be attached to a rifle,said cutter be- HENRY A. PAINE. EDl/NARD M. PRIPPS.

WVitnesses:

FLORENCE MAYHEW,

C. C. SMILEY.

copies of this patent may be obtained for five cents each, by addressingthe Commissioner of Patents, Washington, D. G.

